Are we to let our freedoms be
shaped by the worst kind of intolerance found in the sharia badlands?
How will discrimination among religions based on fear distort human
rights?

Like student magazines all over the world, Woroni, put out by
students at the Australian National University, publishes satire. It did
when I attended 30 years ago, and it still does today. Much of what is
written is offensive to someone or other, but it is a rare day when the
university pays any attention.

However last week, The Australian newspaper reported
that university authorities responded to a complaint by international
students to compel Woroni "to pulp a satirical infographic which
described a passage from the Koran as a 'rape fantasy'". Rachel
Baxendale wrote:

The University also threatened student authors and
editors of the infographic with disciplinary action, including academic
exclusion and the withdrawal of the publication's funding.

The piece was a fifth in a satirical series entitled "Advice from
Religions" which had previously discussed Catholicism, Scientology,
Mormonism and Judaism.

No complaints were received about any of the earlier installments.

The university issued a statement that:

… the infographic breached university rules and
Australian Press Council guidelines, as well as posing a threat to the
ANU's reputation and security.

"In a world of social media, (there is) potential for material such
as the article in question to gain attention and traction in the broader
world and potentially harm the interests of the university and the
university community," the statement said.

The university cited an ugly demonstration by Muslims which took place in Sydney on September 15, 2012, and the Jyllands-Posten cartoon controversy.

The Sydney demonstration involved protestors displaying placards such
as "Behead all those who insult the prophet" and "Sharia will dominate
the world."

Baxendale reported that one of the Woroni editors was told by a
complainant: "I don't think you understand the seriousness of this. In
Pakistan, people get shot for this kind of thing."

This logic is terrifying. People can get shot for many things in
Pakistan: for gay sex or for belonging to the wrong Muslim sect. Are we
in Australia to let our freedoms be shaped by the worst kinds of
intolerance found in the sharia badlands?

The Australian National University was motivated by raw fear -- of Islam.
They virtually admitted as much. They did not bat an eyelid when
diverse religions were mocked week after week in the pages of Woroni,
but Islam is different. It seems the university did not even go through
the motions of pretending they were acting to protect Muslims: they
just didn't want to get hurt.

This is a real example of true Islamophobia, in which an individual
or organization discriminates between religions on the basis of the
degree to which they fear Islam. The Australian National University has
shown itself to be genuinely Islamophobic, yet at the same time,
sharia-friendly.

This is the surrender of fear, which aligns with Muhammad's call to non-Muslims to aslim taslam: "Surrender and you will be safe." The Australian National University has acted to secure its safety, but at a great price.

This university could dig deeper and consider two implications of their actions.

One is: Why is it they have such fear of Islam? Do their actions show
that they agree with Geert Wilders that "Islam is the problem"? Do they
agree that it is Islam's own theological characteristics that have
caused Australia's leading university to threaten its students with
expulsion, simply for doing what students have always done?

The second question is: How will discrimination among religions based
upon the criterion of fear distort human rights and the very fabric of
the society in which we live? Are we to bow down before Islamic dogmas
in every domain of life, out of the fear of being shot "as in Pakistan"?
Will the demands of Islamic sharia determine the boundaries of human
safety in every corner of the globe, as the September 2012 Sydney
protestors so brazenly demanded?

Mark Durie is an Anglican vicar in Melbourne, Australia, author of The Third Choice, and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

4 comments:

I did see this article in The Australian and I wrote to the 2 chancellor's involved expressing my concern about them threatening the students involved with academic withdrawal for merely speaking unpalatable truths about Islam. However, I received no response.

The complainant who was reported to have told the Woroni editor "you could get shot for that sort of thing in Pakistan" was the Student Officer of the Muslim dominated and led International Students Association, Muhammad Taufiq bin Suraidi ('Taufiq'). Its amazing he wasn't called on that and asked to explain what he meant as it could be interpreted as a threat. Why the Woroni editor didn't point out that we are not in Pakistan and in Australia NOBODY is killed for saying anything about any religion is a mystery. ANU is my old uni ('77) and I worked on Woroni too - it beggars belief that Woroni kowtowed to that threat but that the Chancellery also got involved as it did itself threatening punitive measures if the editors of Woroni didn't comply! I was staggered to read about this. In the ANU of old such an intervention would never had occurred and if it had, the Chancellor's offices would have been occupied by belligerent students (they did so at the time with far less provocation). It shows just how far we have sunk in making constant apologies and excuses for Islam. In doing so we are tolerating the intolerant and I fear the very freedoms we take for granted will be under even great threat from within.

International students, who travel to study away from home, should expect to be exposed to the culture of the country they traveled to study in. They are not supposed to attempt to subjugate their hosts to their own home culture.I believe, if our universities fail to understand their roll in promoting the Western culture, especially the values of freedom and human rights, to their oversees students, they have failed to educate those international students. Instead, they have accepted their payment in return for lending them the platform of Australia's highest education institutes to promote their own home culture.